Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Monday Quiz LXXXIV

...with the usual apologies to those readers who do not happen to live in the United States of America. This one might be kind of tough, so it's six-to-make-five again.

1. What's this hit song about?

2. These guys work in a factory that has just implemented a big innovation in industrial technology. Who is their employer?

3. In the 1920s, this guy would become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the 1910s, though, he was already quite well known. Who is he?

4. Keeping in mind that the Titanic went down without much in the way of smoke and flames, what is going on in this period artist's reconstruction?

5. Why do these gentlemen have a poor reputation?

6. OK, the kid is carrying a paper labelled "statehood appeal" and his big lizard is labelled "Judiciary Recall." The well-dressed man, who might look vaguely familiar, is saying "You'll have to abandon your pet, Sonny." You don't have to be well-versed in the local politics of the day to realize that the kid represents ___________.

22 comments:

1. American troops going over to Europe to fight in World War I.2. Henry Ford3. Hmmm...I'm thinking this is the president who later became Supreme Court Justice - Taft?4. The sinking of the Lusitania by a German UBoat (1915, I believe).5. These are the Chicago White Sox (1919?), better known as the Black Sox because eight of them conspired to throw the World Series after being paid off by gamblers. Those eight received lifetime bans from baseball, which still prevents the most famous of their number, Shoeless Joe Jackson, from being elected to the Hall of Fame (Jackson did admit taking money, but he also had a stellar offensive series, so it is unclear if he actually tried to lose or not). Eight Men Out is, of course, the famous movie about the scandal (can you tell I'm a baseball fan?).6. Hmm... obviously it has to be a southwestern state relatively late to the union - the options seem to be Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Let's go with New Mexico.

1. The Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming! ...and we won't come back til it's over Over There. World War 1, at the time styled "The War to End All Wars." sigh2. Hmm. I was going to say the assembly line (Henry Ford's innovation)...but it seems late-ish. However, it's still my best guess.3. President William Howard Taft (from Ohio, Mother of Presidents)4. Oops! I told you not to smoke! No, instead let's say it is the sinking of the _Lusitania_5. Chicago "Black Sox"...eight members were suspended after throwing the World Series. Opinions still differ as to the relative guilt of the various players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson.6. Except for this one, I predict a high rate of correct answers on your quiz! Taft is remonstrating with ? Arizona?

1 ww12 henry ford3 william h taft4 the sinking of the luisitania. i don't know how to spell luisitania.5 the black sox threw the world series.6 i really have no idea. taft is pres, so it has to be one of the western states. utah?

1 going off to Europe to fight in the Great War, or whatever they were calling WWI at the time. My grandma had a lot of piano music from this era about kicking the Kaiser's ass, etc.2 Ford3 um, Taft? 4 I'm guessing that's the sinking of the Lusitania5 They were fixing games. Chicagoans, I think, so it seemed natural. 6 um, like, Nevada?

1. US troops going over for the final inning of WWI2. Henry Ford, assembly line production3. William Howard Taft, most noted for having to have a special big bathtub installed in the White House because of his girth.4. Sinking of the Lusitania5. The Chicago White (aka, "Black" Sox, infamous for throwing the World Series to make some extra bucks from gamblers. See the great John Sayles movie "Eight Men Out" if you haven't.)6. New Mexico

This explains the rash of murder mystery/cookery/fine dining authors...Oh, and I just checked out the new novel _Tomato Rhapsody_! Stay tuned for the review.I know, I know--we're off topic. Dr. Schnell started it. Great poem!

1. U.S. World War I troops in Europe?2. Henry Ford3. McKinley?4. The sinking of the Lucitania (not sure how that's spelled)5. These are the black sox who threw games (the World Series?)6. Is that the man in #3 above? Does the boy represent Texas?

So, I guess this wasn't quite as brutally difficult as I thought, as most takers knocked this one out of the park. Well-deserved EPs go out to PB, Elaine, Carto, la gringa, Calico, d, mhwitt, the Mrs., CritBill, Drs, and, telecommuting in from over on Facebook, Megan S., who thus becomes the 72nd human to win a Monday Quiz Exclamation Point!

Not only do I not live in the United States, but I didn't check the site on the proper date to do the quiz. I will not, however, be deterred. I reserve the right to make up loopy answers to your quizzes before or after the deadline.

Eaglebottom? You should get points for the most creative wrong answer! No shame, since several US citizens who should know better (HS student, one of them!) got it wrong.

WAS there a baseball strike way back then?

Folks, let's remember that Texas is NOT the only "western" state, just the loudest and most self-promoting. (I live in a state where pick-ups, ranches, oil wells, rodeos and livestock auctions are part of daily life....but I'll bet you no one thinks of those things in connection with Darkest Arkansas! which actually shares a border with Texas and Oklahoma among others...)

I am sure M5000 will break it gently that you did not get an EP this time....

Elaine, thanks for staying up to chat with the girl who's late to the party. Most of my answers were guesses, because guessing is fun. I didn't even know there were baseball strikes, other than the "strike three" variety, and that's about all I know about baseball. I guessed Texas because of the armadillo/lizard/alligator thing, and because Texas has such a reputation for independence I thought there was a chance it joined as late as the 20th century. And I saw a video once in high school that featured an interview with an American straight out of a Cold War satire movie, and his name was Lawrence Eagleburger. I don't remember what he had to say, but I'm not making up that name.

Aviatrix,I am SO old that I know who Lawrence Eagleburger was. That's sad! Still, quite a name. (Wait, though--wouldn't an "eagleburger" be a felony?)Weird Eagle name department: How about Egil Krogh? (Yes, it's a real name....connected to a national scandal.)Oh, we've had at least one baseball season ruined by a strike! (I lived in Cincinnati for 9 years during The Big Red Machine days-- a halcyon time that included a World Series title. Before that I had no clue about major league ball, but if you must live in Ohio you may as well give up and learn the game. That made the 14 years in Cleveland go faster, at least...despite the Indians' record.)

Our Mission Statement

As the internet's preeminent site for interactive, democratic art appreciation, Infinite Art Tournament frees great art from the straitjackets of chronology and categorical conventions in order to put it in a new straitjacket of its own devising. The IAT further seeks to delight its community of creative, bracingly intelligent, and drop-dead sexy readers with glib but cheerful dispatches from the worlds of literature, film, the visual arts, music, chemistry, Shakespeare, postal ephemera, vexillology, and hagiography. College football rarely comes up.